


A Piece of Me

by DraiochtEve



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gender-Neutral Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Gift Fic, Gore, M/M, Mild Blood, Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Morbid, One Shot, Other, POV Third Person, Pain, Taxidermy, Tears, idk what other tags to put tbh, morbid mementos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 04:23:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21173363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraiochtEve/pseuds/DraiochtEve
Summary: With the crystal rapidly approaching his tail, G'raha had only one option left before it too would be claimed by the Crystal Tower's curse.





	A Piece of Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sandorara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandorara/gifts), [bug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bug/gifts).

> A gift for two lovely people that have become dear friends of mine.

“Please...for me?” G’raha begged with a trembling hand on the knife. His red eyes were brimming with tears and a fear that put the Warrior’s need to protect into overdrive. 

The room was silent as they stared each other down on the bed, worry stirring between them.

“I-I can’t. I don’t want to hurt you! There has to be another way! Your tail-” they pleaded as their ears pinned and their tail curled around G’raha’s. A pit formed in the Warrior’s stomach that made them wish to vomit and an emptiness began to grow in their chest. 

  
  


G’raha smiled sadly and twisted his tail into the embrace more, his mind doing all it could to memorize the sensation. To remember the feeling and warmth of their tails entangled as one. 

  
  


“You know yourself how much a myste- _ miqo’te’s _ tail means to them.” 

  
  


“And to cut it off is one of the most-!”

  
  


“It’s the only way.” G’raha interrupted, placing a hand on his lover’s cheek, “Please, my friend, there is no other in all the cosmos I would trust with this.”

  
  


The Warrior before him clenched the dagger and fought back the tears. To cut off a miqo’te’s tail was a punishment. A lifelong public humiliation that left one looking incomplete and struggling to walk properly. It was too painful to think of G’raha in that situation. 

  
  


Too painful to think of reaching to coil tails and_ nothing_ being there.

  
  


“My apologies for placing this burden on you. Truly, I have no right to ask any more of you, but I cannot do it myself. I’ve_ tried _. A-And asking another…”

  
  


His mind was set. The Warrior knew no matter how much they fought, in the end, he was right. He was having to choose between two paths one should never be forced to take. And a miqo’te’s tail meant_ everything _to them.

  
  


To let it turn to crystal and break off or to sever it from the body now to preserve it in time, untouched by the Tower’s bonds. A piece of him free and representing the man he was before-

  
  


“It’s going to spread soon.” G’raha warned with urgency, “I can_ feel _it. _ Please...my dearest friend… _” 

  
  


He was shaking, though more scared of time running out or the potential pain to come, the Warrior wasn’t sure. Their heart ached and the base of their own tail quivered at the mere glimpse of the sharp blade in their hands. It was going to hurt terribly. If they had the time, they would run to get an axe to make the swiftest cut possible.

  
  


But even they could see the beginning of the crystal creeping nearer to the beginnings of fur on his backside. 

  
  


Exhaling shakily, they gripped the dagger until knuckles turned white and their free arm pulled G’raha close to their body. Their tails held to each other tightly and the adrenaline was palpable in the air. If only they had more time. If only the curse could be stopped.

G’raha’s tears were wet on their neck and shoulder as he hid his face. They were thankful for that. If they saw the fear in his eyes as they forced their tail away and placed the blade at right where fur met crystallizing skin, they would have fallen apart. They couldn’t have carried on.  
  


But they needed to be strong for him and fulfill his wish. 

  
  


Swallowing hard, they began to cut. Their dagger was far from dull, thankfully, as it was just sharpened the morning before, and the first slice was clean enough to not immediately draw blood. However, the tormented yelp from G’raha proved the process was not going to go as painless as they would desperately like. 

Teeth clamped onto their shoulder as they watched what was left of his back muscles harden. His tail had retreated around their leg, trembling violently as the blade moved to make the second cut. The Warrior whimpered as their lover clung to them and awaited the next burst of pain. 

  
  


If they stopped now, they could heal the wound and possibly talk him down from this plan.

  
  


“Please…! As quickly as you can!” G’raha demanded with labored breaths as he fought the urge to fight back. 

His words were enough to force their hand to move, the second cut deep and slipping between segmented bone with a nauseating sound. Small droplets of blood smeared along the metal and glistened in the setting sun as G’raha’s agonizing sobs echoed in the room. 

  
  


“I’m sorry…” they choked out as they quickly shifted to continue, wishing for the whole ordeal to be over. For it not to have to happen at all.

As they made the third cut, all tension in his tail suddenly ceased to be, and it fell lifeless against their skin. The dead weight of it pulled at the remaining muscle and nerve tied to the body. Like a branch breaking from a tree, it bent with a small wet sound and the bone core within with easily seen. The Warrior swallowed down the bile rising in their throat and gripped the tail to hold it taut. G’raha’s clawed hands and teeth dug deep into their flesh as he breathed rapidly through his nose, trying to ignore what every nerve in his being was saying. 

  
  


Almost there. No turning back now.

  
  


With a final jerk of the knife, the bond was destroyed and the tail laid limp in their grasp. Tears poured like a river from their cheeks as the bloodied dagger fell from their hands onto the bed. They averted their eyes from the open wound, the sight too unbearable even as the crystal grew to cover it. 

Unconsciously, their tail thrashed and felt for G’raha’s as it always had done in times of great stress or affection. As it finally found the detached appendage and vainly coiled around it with no response back, the Warrior let out a cry of sorrow. 

  
  


What had they done...

  
  


G’raha’s hand drifted to his backside and felt dumbly where his pride had once set. His fingers flexed and felt, shaking as nothing was found but crystal and what little bit of cut muscle had yet been claimed. He rose up from the Warrior’s shoulder and his eyes searched blindly as he tried to command his tail to move, a phantom of a memory tricking his senses for a moment before reality sank back in. 

  
  


“I-It’s done.” G’raha stated plainly and almost in disbelief. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing over his shoulder at what the Warrior’s hand and tail held to. A wave of relief and mourning struck his core. Numbly, he reached for it and the Warrior handed it over, not wishing to even look at the thing right now.

G’raha quickly pulled his tail to his face as the Warrior leaned back into the pillows and covered their mouth. He looked over it with a sniffle and ran his fingers through its red fur. Carefully, he examined the cut, probably looking for any sign of crystal, and sighed contentedly as he wiped his eyes.

  
  


“...Thank you...I-“ he whispered as he hugged his tail close to his body and closed his eyes, “I’m sorry to have asked you to do such a thing.”

  
  


The Warrior’s ears drooped and they whined meekly before pulling G’raha into their arms, the fluff on the severed tail tickling their cheek and stirring happy memories that would never happen again. 

Apologies poured from G’raha’s mouth as he soothed the Warrior, heart aching and the sickening reminder of his time running out as the crystal settled over the cut entirely. He prayed it would stop soon and not conquer any more of his flesh for the night, but he feared his prayers would go unanswered.

  
  


“I have one more favor to ask of you.” he began with certainty in his voice. Many times he had thought it over and many more he had found no other outcome he would prefer. 

  
  


“Please...Raha...no more cutting.”

  
  


“No! No, I will not ask that of you again.” he assured quickly as he wiped the tears from their eyes with crystalline fingers. “I wish...I wish for you to keep my tail when I’m gone.”

  
  


The Warrior’s eyes widened at the request and a large frown tugged their lips. Before they could speak, however, G’raha continued, “So that you may have a part of me that is still _ me _ and keep the memories of our time together with you through your adventures.”  
  


There was a morbid romantic implication there that plucked the Warrior’s heart. As stomach-churning as it was, it wasn’t unheard of for one to take the tail of their deceased lover to carry with them through mourning. Just rare as the act had fallen out of practice decades ago. However, they never dreamt of a day that they themselves would be met with the option to.

  
  


And as things stood now, they were together on borrowed time. 

  
  


“I am sorry for my selfi-“

  
  


“Okay.”

  
  


G’raha’s eyebrows shot up at their reply. He looked almost as if he had imagined their voice and flicked his ears to sling any debre from them.

  
  


“What?”

  
  


“I’ll do it.” they reaffirmed and placed their hands on his shoulders to give them a firm squeeze that he couldn’t properly feel through the crystal. 

The relief in his eyes spoke volumes as he fell into their body, still clinging to his tail and kissing whatever skin he could find. Strong arms and a warm tail wrapped around his body and held him tight in the embrace that he would sorely miss as his days ticked down. 

Always these thoughts were plaguing his mind, but at least now, some of him would remain and remain with_ them _. That was all he could ever wish for save not being in this position at all.

But this was the price he would gladly pay if it meant his hero was alive and that he could have these moments to take with him into the rift.

"Thank you_ ever so much_ for all you have ever done for me," G'raha spoke into their chest, his lips resting over where their still-beating heart pounded against their ribs and made him long to pass feeling it until his last breath. "For all you ever will do, my hero. My love."  
  
  


"Raha," the Warrior whispered as they led the both of them to lie on the bed, their tail coiling around any part of G'raha it could find to hold, "Please don't leave me in the night."  
  
  
G'raha felt his ears fall and every fiber of his being cry to escape the nightmare he was trapped in.  
  


"It will not claim me today. I will be sure of that. There's still time."  
  


  
And with those last words, they fell into silence as they relished and memorized each other to the best of their ability. As the Warrior drifted to sleep, they kissed the lifeless tail G'raha still protectively held and their mind fell onto days when ruby eyes were cyan and red and their days were filled with wonder. G'raha's thoughts, however, drifted to if he would survive until the new year.

**Author's Note:**

> I had been toying with ideas to surprise the both of you with as a thank you for a few days now. Then I remembered, the idea of G'raha wanting the WoL to keep his tail after he passes and having to cut it off AND HERE WE BE.
> 
> I hope it is alright as I wrote it in a car ride and got so excited to share I'm not letting it bake before posting ;; I attempted to write this as G'yozah as the WoL, but felt I failed repeatedly to get his characterization right. orz So forgive my cheating this time.
> 
> Thank you so much sandorara and bug for the care package and for your friendship. You guys deserve the world <3


End file.
